The Struggle of Creativity in Photography
How many photographers get caught up in the same problem: they love taking photographs but they struggle with the creative side, doubting that their work and what they produce has merit.
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Without belief in the work you create what you have is just a collection of random images

Believing in the photographs that you are making is a requirement for any photographer, yet, unfortunately, this innate creativity doesn't come naturally to most.
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Being creative means being vulnerable.
Being vulnerable makes people feel uncomfortable.

But it doesn't have to be this way, and you don't have to labor under this misconception.

Today, I want to help you change that perspective. I want you to feel comfortable and natural embracing the vulnerability that comes from being creative.

When you do that, it makes photography even more fun.

The Case of Bob
Meet Bob. Bob is a very accomplished, technically proficient photographer, but he struggled with one giant problem. When he was creating photographs, he relied heavily on technical ability to make a worthy photograph, but those photographs lacked soul.

When Bob tried to step outside of creating just simply a technically proficient photograph and inject some of his own personality into the images, he started to second guess himself all the time.
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What was happening is that Bob didn't really believe in the work that he created because he was starting to feel vulnerable about stepping outside of what was considered important, almost vital in fact, in his genre—technically solid, repeatable photographs.

In your own photography, think about the moments that you've had where you've thought about trying to create a different photograph, taking an unorthodox approach, and you might have backed off because you were concerned about what other people would say about your photographs.
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Bob was struggling with what a lot of photographers, myself included, have wrestled with: the idea that you are your photographs, and your photographs are you.

The Emotional Attachment
Photography is, of course, a creative process, so it feels like we have birthed these images into life. We feel emotionally attached to these images.
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So when somebody criticizes them, it feels like they're criticizing us as a person.

The biggest hurdle that I was helping Bob to overcome when talking about his photography was having the confidence to take whatever criticism might possibly, and I can't stress that word enough, be leveled on his photographs and treat it as just that—an opinion about his images, not about Bob the man.

I don't want to burst your bubble here, but there aren't hordes of people out there on the internet just waiting to criticize your photographs.
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Most people are too wrapped up in their own lives to even really care.
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​Grasp the Nettle​
In Bob's case, we agreed that a few tentative steps in changing things up in his photography would be a good starting point.
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For every shoot he was going to undertake from then on, he would do what he felt was expected of him, but then also devote some time to just taking photographs that felt natural to him.
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Without any expectation that anyone else would ever see them.
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Bob would just let his inner gut feeling about the creativity he wants to embrace dictate how he took those photographs.
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That wasn't being vulnerable that was being brave.

Putting This In Practice​
If there is a technique, approach, or method in photography that you've always wanted to try but you thought other people would dismiss it or think it was silly, give it a whirl.
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Some of the greatest innovations in photography have come from people prepared to just go with their creative instinct and see what happens.
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Sometimes it fails, sometimes it works.
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But you won't know until you try.
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The images featured here are by Dan Winters​
I have an in-depth video with him here​
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If you've ever experienced feelings like Bob had, or have struggled with confidence with the creative process, please feel free to share your stories with me - [email protected]